DRAGONS REACH 40-WIN MARK WITH DH SWEEP OF T-BIRDS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Kaibryn Kruger belted a pair of home runs and Jessica Schmidt earned a save and win in the pitching circle as the Jayhawk Conference champion Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon softball team reached the 40-win plateau in a regular-season-finale doubleheader sweep of Cloud County on Saturday at Fun Valley.

Kruger hit a two-run home run in the first inning of Game 1 and Schmidt retired all five batters she faced for her eighth have of the season in Hutchinson's 5-3 victory. Kruger then hit a two-run home run to center field in a 5-run second inning in Game 2 and Schmidt delivered 3 2-3 innings of no-hit relief in a 5-4 victory.

The Blue Dragons close out the 2026 regular season with a 40-12 record, the sixth time in program history to win at least 40 games, tying the 2018 Blue Dragons for the fifth-most wins in program history. Unofficially, the top-seeded Blue Dragons will play Pratt in the opening round of the Region 6 Tournament at Noon on Friday at Legends Park in Dodge City. Official pairings will be released on Sunday.

GAME 1 RECAP – Hutchinson 5, Cloud County 3
Cloud County got a two-run home run from Maddie Harold in the top of the first, but the Blue Dragons responded right away. Leadoff hitter Riley Dreher singled and Kruger followed with a two-run game-tying home run to left.

The Dragons took a 3-2 lead in the third on a Hadley Topping RBI single that scored Kruger. The Dragons increased the lead to 5-2 in the fourth. Addi Lutz scored on a Dreher sacrifice fly and Lia Martinez scored on a Cloud throwing error.

Allison Adams led off the top of the sixth for a Cloud County homer to right. Then with a runner at first and one out, Schmidt entered the game and retired all five batters she faced, tossing one strikeout.

Aubree Thomas started for the first time in two weeks and earned her 25th career win in the pitching circle for the Dragons. Thomas (12-2) allowed four hits and two runs with four strikeouts over four innings. Mia Williams worked 1 1-3 inning, allowing two hits and one run.

Schmidt now moves into a tie for second place in Hutchinson single-season saves, tying current assistant Coach Riley Wertz, who had eight saves in 2023.

Kruger was 2 for 3 with her ninth home run of the season to lead the Blue Dragons, who out-hit Cloud County 7-6. Topping was 2 for 3 with a double and one RBI. Dreher, Lutz and Martinez had the other Blue Dragon hits.

GAME 2 RECAP – Hutchinson 5, Cloud County 4
The Blue Dragons scored all five of their runs in Game two in the second inning.

Trailing 3-0 after  1 1/2 innings, Reese Goetz started the comeback in the bottom of the second with a two-run opposite-field single through the right side of the infield to pull within 3-2. Dreher tied the game at 3-3 when Dreher doubled to score Goetz. Kruger then launched a go-ahead two-run home run to center field for a 5-3 lead.

Kruger, who was 1 for 2 in the game, became the 10th Blue Dragon player to reach 10 home runs in a season in modern-day Hutchinson softball history. Now with 17 career home runs, Kruger is tied with Raven Bass and Taylor Ullery for 11th on the career home run list.

After Cloud County pulled within 5-4 against starting pitcher Alyssa Rogers, Schmidt entered the pitching circle with runners as second and third and one out. Schmidt got a foul out and strikeout to get out of the jam. From that point, Schmidt (7-2) retired 11 of 13 Thunderbird batters, eight by strikeout. The only two baserunners she allowed were a pair of hit Cloud County batters. Schmidt worked 3 2-3 innings to earn the pitching win.

Dreher was 2 for 4 with a double, triple, one run scored and one RBI. Now with 88 hits this season, Dreher is tied with Jaeleigh Darnell (2024) for fifth on the Blue Dragon single-season hits list. She is now third in single-season triple with seven and is tied for seventh with 62 RBIs, matching Sami Loos (2016). Dreher is tied with Lexi Williams and Haley Miller for fourth in career triples.

The 2026 Blue Dragons end the regular season tied for seventh with 376 runs, tied for seventh with 502 hits and is tied for third in season hit-by-pitches with 62.